National Mine
Bienfait, Saskatchewan, Canada
Old Abandoned Underground Coal Mines can be Very Dangerous, Due to Collapse, and Mine Gases (Noxious and Flammable).
Extreme Care should be taken around them, due to Falls, Sudden Ground Collapse, and Bad Air, and in NO Circumstances should People enter into ANY Mine Openings, or Associated Caves.
The Material Contained on my Sites, is NOT to Encourage Personal Investigation of these Mines, But only as a Historical Record of these Long Abandoned Mines. Please View these Mines from a Far, Safe and Legal Distance. Always Observe Private Property Rights, and Obey ALL Warning Signs.
You can dismiss this warning with the x in the top right.
National Mine Ltd.
Located at NE 1/4 Section 25, Township 2, Range 7, W2
National Mine Mine is shown as B on this map from 1927
B on this map above
49 deg, 08’ 32.25” N
102 deg, 50’ 25.13” W
Owned by Henry Herbert (Harry) Stevens, and some other West Coast Investors.
Mine was formed from some of Maurice Hawkinson's leases in 1929
Harry N. Freeman was Manager
Part of the Big Six at the time of Sept 29, 1931 Riot.
6th largest Deep Seam type mine in 1931
Located between Eastern Mine and Crescent Mine, North of Highway 39, 1 1/4 miles west of Bienfait.
During the 1931 strike, this mine was actually the best of the Big 6.
They seemed to be running a safer mine, and had at least a little concern for the miners.
Like all the Big 6, they didn't want to see a Union at the mine.
Harry Neville Freeman, who was a Mining Engineer, who specialized in Coal Mining, and its by products, gave a speech on coal mining in BC, in Dec 1928.
He would have known Harry Stevens there.
1909 he was an underground foreman at the South Wellington Mine, near Nanaimo.
He was seriously injured from a fall of coal, and this might have been the close safety call, that made him care for safety at this mine more than others.
In 1913 he was Manager of the Jingle Pot Mine in Nanaimo and was an outcast among other managers when he was one of the first mines to acknowledge a Union at Nanaimo.
Harry Neville Freeman
b- July 10, 1880 in Liverpool England, (registered in West Derby district, Lancashire)
d- Oct 12, 1964 in Nanaimo BC, age 84
His family moved to Nanaimo in 1890
Father- John Ross Freeman
b-
d- bef 1911
Mother- Eliza Ann Neville,
b- Apr 29, 1854 in England
d- Nov 25, 1935 in Nanaimo, age 80
Oct 7, 1911 he married Inez Elizabeth Martell in Nanaimo BC
b- 1888 in Nanaimo BC
d-
Daughter of Joshua Martell and Barbara Campbell
siblings of Harry:
John William Freeman
b- Jan 21, 1876
d- July 3, 1906
He also worked in the mines and I would bet he died young in a mine accident.
James Alfred Freeman
b- Jan 20, 1878 in England
d- Apr 28, 1944, in Victoria BC, age 66
Mary H. Freeman
b- Nov 1882 in England
Emma N. Freeman
b- May 20, 1884 in England
Cicily Victoria Freeman
b- Nov 10, 1893 in Nanaimo BC
1911 Freeman family were living on Wallace St, in Nanaimo BC
Henry Herbert (Harry) Stevens
b- December 8, 1879 in Bristol, Reg. Dist. Barton Regis, Gloucestershire, England
(note- his birth is shown as 1878 in all online sites, but it was not registered until Oct-Dec 1879, so I think it's 1879 the correct date,
and the 1911 Canada census says 1879 as well, even those can be wrong, more than right)
d- June 14, 1973 in Vancouver BC, age 94
Father- Richard Harvey Stevens
b- bet July- Sept 1839 in Philleigh, Cornwall, England
d- aft 1891, I think he died in Vernon Dec 30, 1894, age 57
1881 Occupation Domestic Coachman
Mother- Jane Anne Stevens, nee Hawking
b- Jan-Mar 1845 in St. Germans, Cornwall, England
d- Apr-June 1883, age 37, reg dist Barton Regis, Gloucester, UK
married Jan-Mar 1869 Penzance Reg district, Cornwall, UK
Sister- Bessie Jane Stevens
b- Aug 1, 1872 in England
Sister- Mary (Louise) Stevens
b- Jan 22, 1874 in England
married Frank M. Britton, born in ON
Brother- William F. Stevens
b- 1877 in Bristol
Brother- name?, b- bef 1879
Brother- name?, b- bef 1879
Harry married Mable Annie (Gertrude) Glover,
b- Dec 28, 1879, in Reg District of Caister, Lincolnshire, England,
Immigrated in 1882 per 1911 census
married July 5, 1905, in Vancouver BC
They had 5 children,
son- Francis Stevens, b- Oct 1907
daughter- Marjory Stevens- b- Jan 1908
daughter- Sylvia Stevens- b- Apr 1911
son- Douglas Stevens, b- aft 1911
daughter- Patricia Stevens, b- aft 1911
Gertrude's parents, George and Mary A. Glover
both born in England, as well as a niece,
Mary Ivy (Perl) Glover
b- June 9, 1892 in Sask., all living with them in 1911
Perl's parents were John William Braclough Glover,
who was her oldest brother, and Georgina Colier
Gertrude was one of 9 children.
1881 the Glovers were living at 109 Willingham St
Clee with Weelsby, Lincoln, England
Gertrude was youngest of the family when they immigrated
Her dad George was a Railroad Guard.
1901 the Glovers were living in Yale area, Gertrude on her own
George and Mary with her oldest brother now
1881 family Stevens living in Cotham Park, Park House, Westbury on Trym, Gloucester, England
Widowed father, 2 older brothers and a sister immigrated
to Canada in 1887, he was age 9, Settling in Peterborough ON.
1891 living in Peterborough, Methodist, age 12
Moved to Vernon BC in 1894
Joined the US Army in 1899, participated in the Boxer Rebellion
1901- living in Vancouver with his sister Bessie,
at his sister Louise Britton's place, shown as a book keeper
Served on Vancouver City Council in 1910
1911 served as MP as a Conservative, served more than 30 yrs
living at 1451 12th Ave I think it says, Vancouver BC
1911 occupation shown as a Printer
Last surviving member of R. B. Bennett's Government
when he died in 1973
President of Vancouver Holdings Company
Ext Links
Note these are not my sites, and links may or may not work in the future
More Harry Neville Freeman info here
http://memorybc.ca/freeman-family-fonds;rad
Note here it says he was born in 1878, which I believe is wrong
©